On Friday night, the Colorado School of Mines women’s basketball team opened their season on the road against Oklahoma Christian, and despite a seven point halftime lead, the Lady Orediggers lost a close one, 58-62.
After 10 minutes of game time, both teams were tied at 10 until No. 10 Laura Tyree made two straight buckets to give the Orediggers a five point cushion. The Lady Orediggers led by as many as nine points in the first half and held a seven point advantage (30-23) at halftime, but OCU scored the first four points of the second half to gain some momentum. For much of the second half, both teams traded points and with 11:35 to go, OCU took the lead at 37-36. The Orediggers tied the game up at 42, with 7:49 to play, but were never able to retake the lead down the stretch. The final score was Mines 58 and OCU 62.
Tyree led the Orediggers in scoring with 14 points and three rebounds off the bench. No. 23 Courtney Gallo scored 12 with five assists and six rebounds, and No. 24 Allie Grazulis had nine points, six rebounds and two steals. As a team, Mines went 24-65 from the field for a .369 shooting percentage, and 6-9 from the charity stripe for a .667 free-throw percentage. Mines held OCU to just a .281 shooting percentage, but with 16 fouls to just eight by their opponent, the free-throw line ended up hurting the Orediggers as OCU sunk 20 of their 26.